The invention relates to an assembly carrier for installation into a motor vehicle.
An assembly carrier of said type, which can be provided in particular for integration into a motor vehicle door, comprises a large-area carrier body which is molded (injection molded) at least partially from fiber-reinforced plastic; said assembly carrier also comprises fastening points, which are provided on the carrier body, for fastening functional components of a motor vehicle to the carrier body, for example for fastening functional components of a motor vehicle door, such as a window lifter, a door lock, a side airbag module and the like; and a gate mark which projects from the carrier body and which represents a section of the path along which a plasticized molding compound for molding the assembly carrier was conducted into a molding die which defines (forms) the carrier body.
Here, a large-area carrier body is to be understood in the present case to mean a carrier body whose areal extent is considerably greater than its width (thickness) transversely with respect to the areal extent. A carrier body of said type can be produced by means of molding, in particular injection molding, in a mold, by virtue of a plurality of die parts which form the mold being moved together such that a cavity is formed between the die parts, by virtue of a molding compound composed of a plasticized fiber-reinforced plastic being introduced, and a carrier of the desired shape being generated as a result of the solidification of the molding compound in the cavity.
Supply ducts serve to supply the molding compound to the cavity formed in the mold, through which supply ducts the plasticized molding compound flows into the cavity in which it subsequently solidifies so as to create the desired carrier body. When the mold is opened after the solidification of the molding compound in order to remove the carrier body, so-called gate marks remain in the transition region from the cavity provided for forming the carrier body to the adjoining supply ducts, which gate marks represent an end section of the respective duct through which the molding compound has been introduced into each cavity along a path defined by the profile of each duct.
An assembly carrier of said type formed by a large-area carrier body can, as a so-called door module carrier, and before assembly into a motor vehicle door, be fitted with functional components of the door such as for example a window lifter, a door lock and a side airbag module, and can subsequently be installed into a motor vehicle door as a completely pre-manufactured door module together with the functional components which have been pre-mounted on said door module carrier and if appropriate pre-tested. On the other hand, the assembly carrier can also be integrated into a motor vehicle door before being fitted, at the fastening points provided for the purpose, with functional components of the vehicle door. In both cases, the assembly carrier ultimately forms a constituent part of the door structure of a motor vehicle, in particular the so-called inner door skin which separates the wet space from the dry space of a motor vehicle door.
In the production of an assembly carrier of said type by means of molding, in particular injection molding, there is the problem primarily when using relatively long fibers can break at the transition from the supply ducts into the cavity, and the stability of the assembly carrier is thereby adversely affected.